Mat Latos
There are some who think that Mat Latos is an up and down pitcher in fantasy baseball leagues. He either wins a bunch of games like he did in 2012 and 2010 or he doesn’t like in 2011. It’s true that those numbers seem to suggest a bit of inconsistency but the problem that’s just three years’ worth of data to work with and everyone knows you can’t draw serious conclusions from just a player’s first three years in fantasy baseball leagues. Latos’s first year with the Reds was one of his best so there is reason to think that his sophomore slump may just be an anomaly. He’s maintain a decent ERA for the past two seasons but we really want him to get back to his 2010 form of a 2.92 if he’s going to be an early draft pick in MLB fantasy baseball leagues.
His strikeouts numbers have remained consistent since then but his ERA has dropped considerably. If he can repeat last year’s numbers he’s probably a seventh round pick in most fantasy baseball drafts. However if he can get back to his best year in 2010 he could be as good as a fifth rounder. Of course that means we ought to split the difference and leave him for the sixth round in your draft. Latos isn’t a fantasy ace right now but he’s at the high end of the number two pitchers in the sport. He’s got some upside and his youth is such that he might be able to reach his potential this year. Still there are some doubts with valid reasoning behind them and it may not be worth it to invest too much in him for the coming year. Whichever way you fall Latos is an intriguing pick this year in fantasy baseball leagues.
Cincinnati knows going into the season that they will have quite a bit of dependable hitting. The biggest issue for them going forward is to make sure they can make things work on the pitching side of things as well. This team does not want to have to win every game 11-10. If they are unable to get strong outings from Latos on a consistent basis, they could find themselves in quite a bit of trouble. Expectations are high in Cincinnati, but poor pitching has always been an issue for the franchise. It could be another issue in 2013.